Meet the Parents
by BeneathTheUmbrella
Summary: Tracy meets Virginia and Clint. And then, Ted meets Tracy's parents. The latest instalment in my series, the follow-up to Oh, What I Wouldn't Do.
1. Virginia and Clint

_And... my latest chapter is finally up! I apologize for the delay, and thanks so much to everyone for their lovely feedback and encouragement. This instalment will be a two-parter, the second on its way as fast as I can write it._

* * *

_October 2013_

_Knock, knock, knock._

_Knock, knock, knock._

_Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock._

Ted, out of breath, opened the door to his apartment.

"Mom! Clint!" he said, shocked to see them standing before him. And slightly embarrassed, as he looked down at himself wearing nothing but his boxers. "Wh-what're you guys doing here?"

"Your mother and I thought we'd visit," Clint said, his guitar as always strapped to his torso, wandering past Ted into the apartment, his mother following suit.

"Um, this is kind of a bad time..." Ted began, his eyes darting up towards the bedroom. "How about you guys go to the coffee shop downstairs and I'll meet you there in 15 minutes?"

"Don't be silly, sweetheart," his mother said, as she and her husband sat down on the couch, cutting right to the chase. "I wanted to hear about this new girlfriend of yours—I've been curious about her since you mentioned her in our last conversation."

Ted hadn't had the chance to talk to his mom all summer. She and Clint had gone on a three-month-long yoga road trip across the Midwest, and every retreat had a "no cell phones" policy. So he finally got a chance to tell her about Tracy when she called him up a few weeks earlier upon their return. She said she was looking forward to meeting his new girlfriend. He just wasn't expecting his mom and stepdad to show up at his doorstep unexpectedly.

"A call would've been nice..." Ted began, wrapping his arms around himself.

His mother gave him a pointed look. "Theodore, just go upstairs, the both of you get dressed, and bring her down so I can meet her." She smiled knowingly.

Ted blushed; there was no point in denying it. "Um, sure. We'll be right down."

He sprinted up the stairs and bolted into the bedroom, breathless, shutting the door behind him.

"Wow, someone's eager to get to Round 3," teased Tracy from the bed. "Guess you got rid of whoever was at the door?"

"Not exactly," said Ted, frantically looking around for his jeans. "Um, my mother and stepfather are here, so we have to get dressed. Fast. My mom knows we were up here having sex."

His lovely, spazzy girlfriend bolted upright. "What?!" she said, practically falling off the bed in her haste to get up. "Crap. Where the damn hell is my underwear?"

"And here I thought _you_ would be the one to calm _me_ down," Ted joked while on his hands and knees, finding his pants under the bed. "A-ha!" he called out successfully.

"You _sure_ she knew we were having sex?" Tracy asked, grabbing her bra from the bedpost and slipping it on.

"Yeah," Ted said sheepishly. "She gave me the same knowing look she used to when I was a teenager, when I'd come out of my room after masturbating. So she knows." Ted shuddered at the memory; she always knew. _Always._

"I'm not surprised," she said. "You can't hide your I-just-had-sex face well. You need to be more discreet, babe."

"Discretion," Ted said with a laugh, walking over to his dresser and grabbing a t-shirt. "I was in my boxers. Why else would I be in _just_ my underwear at 1 in the afternoon?"

Tracy put her head in her hands. "Crap, crap, crap," Tracy muttered, then went to rifle around Ted's closet where she kept a few dresses, for something to wear. "This is _so_ not the first impression I wanted to make!"

Ted smiled; she really was adorable when she was nervous. But he knew this was a big deal for her. Lord knows he'd be a basket case whenever the time came for him to meet _her_ parents. Especially if they showed up at her door unexpectedly while they were having sex. He'd probably just panic and try to escape from her bedroom window.

"Hey," he said gently, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her from behind. "My mom's going to adore you, so you don't need to worry about that. As for the sex thing, she doesn't judge. Believe me, I actually fear she and Clint'll give us sex advice once we get down there." He paused. "God, I hope they don't."

Tracy laughed despite herself, and leaned back into his chest. "It's just, ugh, why did we have to be playing some kinky game I read about in _Cosmo_, of all things, when they rang? I don't normally even read_ Cosmo_! Couldn't we have been playing a tame, family-friendly board game in the living room, or doing today's crossword puzzle?"

Ted chuckled and kissed the back of her head. "I promise, I won't mention _Cosmo_ if you won't. Come on: let's get down there."

They finished getting dressed, Ted successfully getting Tracy flustered by jokingly trying to initiate a quickie, and each took a deep breath before opening the door.

"By the way," Ted whispered as they walked down the stairs. "I apologize in advance for Clint."

Tracy gave him a confused look. "What—" she began, before both his mom and Clint stood up and looked at them when they made it to the foot of the stairs.

"Mom, Clint, this is Tracy," Ted said, a proud tone to his voice, putting a comforting hand on the small of Tracy's back. "Tracy, this is Clint... and this is my mom, Virginia."

"It's really nice to meet you, Clint... and Virginia," said Tracy, reaching out to shake Clint's hand, then his mom's.

"Come, sit!" said Virginia happily, grabbing both of Tracy's hands and pulling her towards the couch. "I am thrilled to meet you! I have so much I want to ask."

"Um, sure," said Tracy as the three of them sat down. "I'm an open book. Except for that period between 2001 and 2003; that goes with me to the grave!"

Ted shook his head, chuckling under his breath. _Always with the jokes_, he thought.

"Okay, I'll go to the kitchen and make us some drinks," said Ted. "Mom, Clint: green tea for you both? Trace: coffee?"

They all nodded, and Ted looked over at Tracy, waiting to see if she'd give him a "Get me outta here!" face. But she seemed comfortable as she spoke softly with his mom and Clint, her usual friendly nature and genuine interest in others taking over, and she seemed in her element, her nervousness from earlier gone. Or, at least she was hiding it fairly well, he deduced.

He began brewing a pot of coffee and boiling some water, leaning against the kitchen counter as he waited, listening to the voices in the living room, Tracy's exuberant laugh popping up every once in a while. He couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, but he was sure his mom was sharing a few anecdotes about his childhood, most of them likely embarrassing. He didn't mind; he didn't want to keep anything from her. Not the time he got trapped under a fake boulder at the mall, nor the fact that his best friend as a kid was a balloon, nor the fact that he wet the bet until he was 10. He wanted her to know everything about him, good, bad, embarrassing, whatever. Ted figured it meant that she'd know him 100%.

A few minutes later, Ted began pouring everyone's drinks into mugs when his mom walked into the kitchen.

"Hi sweetheart," she told him. "I thought I'd help you bring the drinks out."

"Thanks, mom," Ted said as he tore open the tea bags and dropped them into the water. "How's it going out there?"

"It's going lovely!" she said. "Tracy and Clint were talking music these last couple of minutes, and she just excitedly ran upstairs to get her guitar."

Sure enough, they heard the plucking of a few guitar strings before Tracy and Clint both began belting out some Joni Mitchell.

_"And the seasons, they go round and round. And the painted ponies go up and down..."_ they sang in unison.

Ted and Virginia both chuckled. "So, Tracy seems like a nice girl."

"But?" Ted asked cautiously. His mother had never really liked any of his girlfriends, always nitpicking about something. Too tall, too short; too pretty, not pretty enough; not ambitious, too career-oriented... Ted had felt at times that he could never win when it came to the type of girl he'd bring home, which is why he usually kept his romantic relationships to himself. Which was easy, given that his mother lived a number of states away. But with Tracy, he wanted his mom to get to know her, to like her; he wasn't seeking her approval in the slightest, but would love to have it nonetheless.

"There are no buts, Theodore," she said defensively. "She's sweet and polite and has the same... unusual... sense of humor as you. And she genuinely seems to love you, at least that's what I gathered while speaking to her. What more could a mother hope for her son?"

Ted smiled. "Thanks, mom," Ted said gratefully. "That means a lot."

There was a comfortable silence as Ted walked over to the fridge to grab some milk (whole for everyone, almond for Tracy) but then felt his mom's eyes on him as he poured.

"So, things are serious between the two of you?" she finally asked him.

"Well," Ted said shyly. "We've only been seeing each other barely five months..."

"But it's serious," she confirmed. "She keeps her guitar here, she speaks very fondly of you, and I see you have two kinds of milk in your refrigerator..." Ted looked down at the container of almond milk in his hand that he had just poured into Tracy's mug.

"Yes, it's serious," Ted admitted. "I love her." It really was as simple as that.

"Are you going to marry her?" she asked him bluntly.

"Moooom!" Ted hissed, peering out at the living room, hoping Tracy didn't hear that. Realistically, she didn't hear a thing, as she was still singing and strumming along with Clint.

"Well?"

Ted sighed. "God willing, I would love nothing more than to marry her, if she'll have me," he said truthfully. "But we're not thinking or talking about that right now; we're just... taking things as they come. Can we leave it at that?"

His mom smiled. "That's all I needed to hear," she said, grabbing two mugs from the counter and exiting the kitchen. Ted grabbed the other two and followed her out.

In the living room, Tracy put down her guitar and took her coffee from Ted's hands, her dancing eyes looking up into his, thanking him. He sat down next to her, as Clint began talking about their summer yoga retreat but tuned his words out, as he reflected on his exchange with his mother earlier.

Marriage. Of course, settling down had been on his brain for the past eight years. Not many came close to being the one: Robin, maybe, but it wasn't in the cards for them. Victoria, there had been a chance, once upon a time. Then there was Stella, of course. But with Tracy...

_Tracy_, Ted thought happily. When he first met her, he knew she was a possibility. More than a possibility; from the moment she spoke to him, and charmed him completely, he felt what he was sure Klaus had spoken to him about on that same train platform a year earlier.

Lebenslanger schicksalsschatz, he had called it. A euphoric rush that coursed through one's entire body, head to toe, inside and out. And when Klaus had asked him if he'd ever felt that way about someone, he thought he _may_ have; Victoria had been on his mind at that particular moment. But now, he could say with absolute certainty that Tracy fell in that category.

Ted's eyes quickly darted down at her, as she smiled and nodded her head at Clint's words, asking him and his mom a question about yoga, an activity she had been meaning to try. _Yes_, he thought. Five months earlier, Tracy was a pretty good possibility. But now, as he's gotten to know her—at her best and at her worst—and love her completely and unconditionally, he could truly say that Tracy was going to be his wife one day.

He wasn't clairvoyant in any sense, and he would still pray to any god out there that she'd say "yes" the moment he'd ask, but he knew that there was a bright future ahead for them. Heck, if he could ask her right now, he would. But they had all the time in the world, he knew. When the moment was right, and he'd pick out the perfect ring and the perfect spot, nothing in the world could stop him.

They continued chatting for a good hour, empty mugs sitting on the coffee table, and Virginia continuously asked Tracy more questions about her life, family, work, hobbies... This was more interest than she'd ever had in any of his girlfriends, but the fact that he confirmed that she may be her future daughter-in-law, well, it meant that she'd want to get to know her as much as humanly possible.

Ted's stomach grumbled and, after checking his watch and seeing it was 2:30, he realized that he and Tracy had skipped lunch.

"Hey, guys," he spoke up. "I'm actually kind of hungry; should we continue this downstairs? There's this great Chinese restaurant. My treat!"

"That's a lovely idea," said his mom. "But since meeting Tracy today is a cause for celebration, _Clint and I_ will be buying lunch."

Ted had no reason to fight her on it, and Tracy thanked them both for the kind gesture.

"Good idea, babe," she whispered to him as they all stood up, clutching her stomach dramatically. "I thought I was going to keel over from hunger."

Ted laughed and squeezed her shoulder affectionately. They all grabbed their things, and he held open the door for everyone, his mom and Clint walking out into the hallway and disappearing around the corner. Tracy started to walk out, head down and hands rifling through her purse, but Ted reached out his arm to block her way.

"Hey," he said softly.

She looked up at him. "Hey, back," she responded with a smile.

"So, that wasn't too painful," he acknowledged.

Tracy laughed softly. "Not at all painful," she admitted. "They're real nice. And your mom only asked one question about our sex life, so I guess we can count it as a successful meeting."

"More than successful," he confirmed, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close for a kiss. "She loved you, no surprise there."

"Well, I'm pretty loveable," she teased, giving him a quick peck and then pulling away. "C'mon, let's go eat." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out into the hallway, Ted shutting the door behind him, and they ran down the corridor.


	2. Mr and Mrs McConnell

_And this is part two: Ted gets to meet Mr. and Mrs. McConnell. This one is just one big ball of fluff, so enjoy!_

* * *

_November 2013_

"Hey, Slowsby, can you take it up a notch?" asked Tracy teasingly, invoking the nickname she only used when he was behind the wheel of the car, looking over at Ted from the passenger seat. "The speed limit is 75; you can hit the gas peddle a _little_ bit harder."

Ted focused on the road ahead of him as he drove along I-95 on their way to New Jersey. "We just had a major storm, Trace, so I need to be extra cautious," he reminded her. "I'm not a speed demon like you."

He and Tracy were on their way to her parents' place in West Orange for Thanksgiving. Since Lily and Marshall were away, their annual get-together was cancelled, so Barney and Robin decided to spend the day at his mother's house upstate, and Tracy's parents had invited them over to New Jersey to celebrate the holiday. Ted had yet to meet the McConnells, so this was a big day for him. Of course, he was also extremely nervous.

"God, you're such a stickler for the rules," she taunted him lovingly. "Or are you just doing this to put off meeting my parents for as long as you can? Even if you double our driving time, you're still going to have to eat with them tonight. So there's no point in putting it off."

Ted chuckled nervously; she wasn't that far off. He was anxious about meeting her parents. He knew he didn't have to be; from what Tracy has told him of them, they were warm, funny, and inviting people. But the anxiety was still there: could he impress her parents? In their eyes, would he be good enough? Would he be successful enough? Would he love their daughter enough?

Aside from Max, Tracy had never brought home a boyfriend before, not even Lewis. So he knew this was pretty much a first for both of them.

"You're not nervous?" he asked her, reaching over for her hand and lacing their fingers together.

Tracy shrugged her shoulders and just caressed his hand with her thumb. "I haven't introduced a boyfriend to my parents since I was 16, so that's going to be a new experience," she admitted. "But, I don't know, I'm excited for them to meet you."

Ted smiled; that surely helped ease his nerves. He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. "Thank you for that," he said softly.

They continued to drive in comfortable silence, the drive to her old neighborhood a fast and easy one. Tracy directed him to her parents' neighborhood, on the way pointing out her old high school, the ice cream shop she used to work at as a teen, the apartment building she grew up in, along the way.

He eventually drove up to a modest, two-story house, parking his car in the driveway. Tracy had told him that her dad went to school in the evenings while she was growing up, finally getting a lucrative job in his field after years of balancing blue collar work, night classes, and raising a family. A sizeable promotion came after that, which meant he and his wife, a grade school music teacher, could finally afford a bigger home for their family, moving out of their tiny apartment when Tracy was 15. She admitted this wasn't a place she could easily call "home"—she had much fonder memories of their smaller apartment instead—but her father was very proud of the house, finally able to host backyard barbecues, have a bigger kitchen where he and Tracy's mom could cook for larger groups, and, eventually, have the extra space for when their children, their spouses and the grandkids could come visit. Ted's mind briefly wandered to his house in Westchester; he could definitely relate.

Ted took a couple of deep breaths to ease his nerves, and mentally gave himself a pep talk. _You'll be fine. Just be cool, be polite, and don't say anything too lame or pretentious._

"Aw, babe," Tracy cooed sympathetically, laughing lightly as she leaned over to give him a long, reassuring kiss. "You'll be fine, I promise."

"I know. And I really can't wait to meet them," he assured her. "But every guy wants to make sure he passes the parent approval test. I mean, if they don't like me..."

"They'll _love_ you," she said with great certainty, pressing her forehead to his. "Besides, once they see how happy you make me, that's really all that matters to them. And you make me _very_ happy."

Ted grinned. "Even when I comment on the fact that you snore?" he asked teasingly.

"I do _not_ snore. I breathe in an adorably heavy manner," she corrected him. "But, yes. Even then."

"And when I hog the pen while we do the crossword puzzle?"

"You like to be in control," she said, excusing his behavior. "I get more words right than you do, so I may as well let you have the pen thing. But doing the crossword puzzle with you makes me happy."

"And when I carry you to bed after you fall asleep on the couch, even though you hate it and say it perpetuates princess and knight in shining armor fantasies?" Ted finished with an amused tone.

Tracy gave an embarrassed laughed. "I do and it does," she admitted. "But, I admit, I sometimes pretend to fall asleep, just because I'm too lazy to get up, and you carrying me means I don't have to use my own legs like a sucker. So that _especially_ makes me happy."

"I _knew_ it!" he said, shaking his fist in the air, vindicated. His voice then softened. "And you make me happy, too. Especially when you make a _Simpsons_ reference like you just did."

"C'mon," she said, eyes twinkling. "Let's go inside and get warm."

They exited the car, Ted grabbing their bags from the trunk while Tracy grabbed the bottle of wine and the pumpkin pie she had baked. They walked up to the front door, Tracy getting her keys out and letting them in.

"Mom? Dad? We're here!" she called from the entryway, shutting the door behind them.

An older woman's head peeked out from around a corner, her smile wide. "Sweetheart!" she cried, walking towards them in her apron, Ted noticing that she was petite like Tracy, with the same wide, happy eyes. She wrapped her arms around her daughter lovingly, squeezing her tight and rocking her side to side.

"Ma, my ribs," said Tracy, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek and pulling away.

Her mother then looked up at Ted, smiling, and then back at Tracy. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to this handsome young man?" she chided playfully.

Ted's looked down at his feet shyly, as Tracy made the introductions. "Mom, this is Ted," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Ted, this is my mom, Mary."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. McConnell," he said sincerely.

"It's lovely to meet you," she said warmly. "Drop those bags, and give me a hug! Charles, come get the kids' bags!"

Ted did as told, gently depositing the bags down as Mary happily squeezed Ted in the same manner she did Tracy. Ted gave Tracy an amused grin over her mother's head, and then wrapped his arms around her. It was a nice feeling, Ted thought. He loved her warmth and exuberance, and was instantly put at ease.

At that moment, an older man appeared behind them.

"Mary," he said. "Leave the man alone, you don't want to make him uncomfortable." Ted could hear a slight Irish accent in his voice.

"Hi, daddy," said Tracy happily, rising up on the tips of her toes to kiss the taller man on his cheek.

"Hey, love," he said affectionately, tousling her hair.

Mary pulled away and gave Ted a reassuring wink before she nudged him towards her husband. "This is Tracy's boyfriend, Ted," she said, grabbing the wine and pie from Tracy's hands and taking them to the kitchen.

"Um, it's nice to meet you, sir," Ted said, reaching his hand out. "Ted Mosby."

"Charles McConnell," he said, grabbing his hand and shaking it firmly. He seemed imposing at first, but his kind smile gave him away. "I'm pleased to finally meet you. Let me take those bags up to Tracy's room; you two settle down in the living room."

Now alone in the entryway, they kicked off their boots, and Ted helped Tracy out of her coat before taking off his own, and she hung them on the nearby coat rack. She took his hand and led him to the cozy-looking family room. The sun was shining brightly through the large bay window, and Ted looked at the family photos hanging on the walls, spotting a few of Tracy as a baby and as a young girl. An upright piano sat up against the back wall, old and well-loved, and he could picture Tracy learning to play the piano as a kid.

They sat down on the couch and leaned back, Ted sighing happily. "I think this is off to a good start," he told Tracy, putting his arm around her.

"Told you," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Tracy!" called her mother from the kitchen. "Does Ted drink coffee?"

"There won't be any coffee, honey," answered Charles, now entering the living room. "I think a round of Glen McKenna should do just fine. You enjoy scotch, son?"

Ted removed his arm from around Tracy quickly, sitting upright with his hands on his knees. He heard Tracy snickering under her breath next to him. "I do, Mr. McConnell."

"Lovely!" he said, pleased, sitting down across from them. "I brought home a few bottles of Glen McKenna 35-year from Ireland last year; costs a bloody arm and a leg in this country."

Ted laughed. "I can sympathize," he said. "At my friends' wedding back in May, three bottles of 30-year got broken over the span of one weekend. It was heartbreaking."

Charles winced. "Tragic. That's practically $1,500 down the drain. I hope the architecture industry pays well," he said with a laugh.

"Well, I teach architecture at Columbia," he said. "But I still try and pitch a few building designs as a freelancer, so I do well with the occasional contract."

"Dad, Ted was the architect for the GNB building in Manhattan that opened last year," Tracy said proudly, taking Ted's hand in hers. "_New York_ magazine even called him New York City's next great architect."

Ted blushed at her compliment. "It's really not a big deal," he responded bashfully.

"That sounds like a pretty big deal to me," said Charles kindly. "That's quite the accomplishment there, lad. You should be proud."

"I am," Ted agreed. "But I'm pretty much just humbled that my building is part of the Manhattan skyline. It's kind of mind-blowing."

"Well, we'll have to stop by the city sometime and see it," he said.

"That'd be nice," Ted said, as Mary entered the family room with the tray of drinks.

"I've got doubles for everyone," she said cheerily. "Ted, do you drink yours neat or on the rocks?"

"Neat is fine," he said, grabbing one glass and handing it over to Tracy, and then accepting one for himself.

"We'll toast again when the boys arrive later," said Mary, sitting down next to her husband on the love seat. "But Ted: welcome to our home—it truly is a joy to meet you. Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving!" they all said in unison, clinking their glasses and taking a sip.

"Tracy, I almost forgot to tell you!" said Mary. "I bumped into Max's mom at the supermarket yesterday."

"Aw, how is she?" she asked. "I haven't spoken to her in a long time."

"She is doing lovely. Definitely in a better place," she said. "She remarried last year, and now has three grown step-children, and two step-grandchildren."

"That is _so_ great to hear," Tracy said happily, then looking over at Ted. "Her husband died two years before Max did," she explained.

"Wow, that is rough," Ted answered, shaking his head.

"I told her you were coming home for Thanksgiving, and that you were seeing someone now," Mary continued, giving Ted a fond smile. "She was _very_ happy to hear that. She actually gave me her new number and was hoping you'd give her a call."

"Of course!" said Tracy. "I'll actually call her now, before I forget. Is the number in the kitchen?"

"Yes, on the fridge."

She looked at Ted. "I'll be back," she said, squeezing his fingers before letting go of his hand and walking out of the room.

Ted was now left alone with Mr. and Mrs. McConnell, and with Tracy no longer by his side, his nervousness amplified a bit. Especially since her dad was now looking at him with an unusual intensity, seeming to want to ask him something. Ted gulped, and took a sip of his scotch.

"So, Ted," the older man began, leaning forward to look Ted in the eyes. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

Ted was caught off-guard. He definitely wasn't expecting this type of questioning this weekend. He figured they'd want to get to know him on the surface at first, a little bit about his work and his life. But his long-term hopes for him and Tracy? Of course, he had many. But he and Tracy had yet to discuss their future, enjoying the progression of their relationship instead, taking things day by day. But he figured confiding in her parents wasn't a bad thing; he _wanted_ them to know that he was serious about their daughter, that he wasn't merely a passing ship, that he had every intention of making her happy for the rest of their lives.

"Well," Ted began, setting down his drink on the coffee table. "Um, I pretty much am in love with her, sir. We've only been seeing each other six months, so this is a long ways down the road, but I can see a future with her, and would love nothing more than to settle down and get married. She's the one I've been searching for for a long time, so I have no intentions of letting her go. I will spend the rest of my life keeping her safe and happy and loved." Ted paused. "Although, please don't say anything to her. She and I haven't really discussed marriage or kids at all this early in our relationship, so I don't want to bring it up to her quite yet. But that _is_ my intention."

Now done with his impromptu speech, Ted looked up at Tracy's parents, who were looking at Ted with their mouths slightly agape, and then turned to look at one another. Then Charles began laughing lightly, an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Oh, son, I was just messing with you!" he said, his wife giggling along with him, but staring at Ted approvingly. "I just thought I'd ask the most cliché question a man can ask his daughter's new boyfriend. I'm so sorry; I didn't think you'd pour your heart out like that!"

Ted's cheeks reddened and he let an embarrassed chuckle. "I can see where Tracy gets her sense of humor from..."

"I very much appreciate your candor, however," the older man told him in a serious tone, looking over at his wife, who took his hand and gave him a sad smile. "Our daughter has gone through a lot, as you know. And for the longest time, all we could do was sit on the sidelines helplessly, waiting for her to let life in again. To pretty much let herself become "widowed", so to speak, at the age of 21, it just broke our hearts. That's the last thing we wanted for our normally bubbly daughter. So I'm glad that she's found you; we definitely haven't seen her this happy in the longest time."

Ted felt like crying, reminded again of the pain Tracy had endured for so long. "Thank you, sir," Ted said, his voice hoarse. "I truly appreciate hearing that. And Tracy's happiness is of utmost importance to me, over my own, I can assure you."

At that moment, Tracy walked into the room, and they all quieted down. "How're you guys doing?" she asked, sitting back down on the couch. "Hope the interrogation wasn't too brutal."

"All I can say is that your boyfriend is a very gullible man, love," Charlie told his daughter with a wink.

"He really is," she agreed, looking over at Ted lovingly.

"How was Norma?" Mary asked her daughter.

"She's well! She sounded _so_ happy," Tracy said, relieved. She turned to Ted: "Babe, I told her I'd come say a quick "hello" tomorrow. Can we stop by her place on her way back to the city? She doesn't live too far from here."

"Of course!" Ted said, knowing how important this was to her. She had confided in him that she used to speak to the older woman constantly after Max's death, but pulled away after a few years because it was too hard to be around her, as it made Max's absense all the more harder to bear. Tracy had been wracked with guilt about disappearing on her, and had been meaning to get back in touch.

At that moment, they heard the front door burst open, and a male voice call out. "Hello?"

"We're in here," Mary called out. She looked at Ted. "John and Matthew are such good boys."

They heard the rustling of coats, and two men who were obviously Tracy's older brothers, as well as a blonde pregnant woman, appeared in the living room. Tracy's brothers, twins, muscled and around 6'5", looked over at Ted. "Is this the new boyfriend?" one of them asked menacingly.

The other one answered: "I think it is, bro."

Ted looked from one McConnell brother to the other, and gulped.

* * *

A short while later, after John and Matthew had initially scared the crap out of Ted and then laughed at his frightened face ("Seriously, what's with your family's sense of humor?!" Ted asked Tracy), Mary and Charles retreated to the kitchen to continue with the meal prep, while the rest of them, including John's lovely wife Beth, hung out in the living room, playing a game of Scrabble.

"I figured you and Beth would help out your mom in the kitchen while the guys, you know, drank beer and talked sports," Ted whispered to Tracy.

Tracy pretended to be offended. "Wow, I see you envision Thanksgiving to be one big cliché, babe," she said with a laugh. "Mom and dad love cooking together, so they usually take charge of that. All they want from us is to stay out of their way and to remember to set the table. So we normally just play tackle football outside before dinner."

"Yeah," Matthew said, sullen. "Shame it's so cold from the storm. If it was a bit milder, we could've at least played a game out in the snow."

"Wait,_ tackle_ football?" Ted asked, looking at Matthew and John, and then at his tiny, 5'2" girlfriend.

John noticed the look in Ted's eyes, and laughed reassuringly. "Don't worry, man," he said. "She's small, but she can hold her own."

Tracy nodded. "The three of us grew up in the same bedroom in the old apartment," she explained. "I've been noogied, sat on, tackled, wrestled... So football with these two knuckleheads is a breeze."

"Besides, she's small, and surprisingly fast," Matthew added, ignoring her "knucklehead" comment. "She can zip right past you and score a touchdown without you realizing it."

Tracy smiled at Ted smugly. "Basically, I kick their asses." She looked down at the board game, and put down the M-U-Z-J-I-K tiles, attaching it to Beth's previous S-A-I-L-S attempt. "As I always do at Scrabble: Muzjiks, double letter on the Z, double word score. That's 78 points!"

They all groaned as she did a little dance and jotted down her points on the score sheet.

"Well, don't celebrate for too long," said Ted in a cocky tone, adding the B-E-N-O-Y-L tiles to Tracy's word. "Benzoyl, triple word score, 63 points. I am now in the lead: booya!"

Tracy narrowed her eyes at Ted, and Ted narrowed his at Tracy, both realizing that they each had met their match. "Oh, you just made a huge mistake, Mosby!" said Tracy.

"It is _on_, McConnell!" growled Ted.

The others all looked at one another nervously. Matthew's eyes went from Tracy to Ted and back, and then proceeded with his turn: "Uh, R-A-T," he said lamely, adding his tiles to the S at the end of Muzjiks. "Rats, four points..."

* * *

After a lengthy game which mostly consisted of Ted and Tracy trying to one-up each other, Tracy had won the game (with Ted close behind in second place), and everyone went to go change and freshen up before dinner.

Tracy led Ted up to her old room and, the moment she closed the door behind them, they pounced on each other. Ted pressed Tracy against the door, mouth on mouth, grinding his hips against hers.

They kissed fiercely, practically devouring one another. They panted heavily, pulling at one another's shirts, fingers stroking skin.

"God, you are _so_ good at Scrabble!" Ted murmured, nibbling at Tracy's earlobe.

"Me?" Tracy breathed out, frantically undoing Ted's belt. "What about you? I mean, babe, the way you put down Quixotry like that? Way to get a girl all hot and bothered!"

"But the way _you_ added -like to Fugue, nabbing triple word score to win the freakin' game?!" Ted exclaimed, pulling down her jeans and underwear in one fell swoop. "That was _hot_! I wanted to take you right then and there on the board."

They continued to disrobe one another and fell onto the single bed, Ted kissing down Tracy's neck, settling on her breasts, licking and tugging at her nipples with his teeth as Tracy moaned above him.

Ted stopped kissing Tracy, lifting himself up and looking down at her flushed face. "Do you think it's weird that we're getting this turned on by Scrabble?" he asked her.

She looked up at him, breathing heavily, eyes filled with desire. "Not at all," she said confidently. "We're super-cool, I promise you."

"_Totally_ cool!" he agreed, letting her pull him back down towards her lips, as she kissed him fervidly and wrapped her legs around him.

* * *

30 minutes later, Ted and Tracy were dressed for dinner and trying to put on a cool and collected front, Tracy insisting Ted quit smiling so much as they walked down the stairs, lest he gave them away.

They all assembled at the dining room table, Ted impressed at the spread before him. There were the usual Thanksgiving staples: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, some salad, homemade bread. But Charles and Mary had added a few extra Italian and Irish delicacies: there was a whole lasagna, a caprese salad, risotto, potato soup, and corned beef and cabbage.

"This is impressive," Ted said, as he held out Tracy's chair, and then sat down himself.

"Thank you, Ted," said Mary. "I hope you're hungry."

Tracy chuckled. "I warned him, but he still had a pretty big lunch before we drove over here."

"I have an iron stomach," Ted assured them all. "This will be a piece of cake."

They all jumped right into dinner, Ted sampling a little bit—okay, a lot—of everything. It was a lovely evening, with good food and good conversation. The McConnells were a very convivial bunch, curious and eager to get to know him (and he, them), and Ted just felt at ease, like he simply belonged there. He could easily picture future family gatherings—Thanksgivings, Christmases, birthdays, Sunday night dinners—with Tracy by his side. He looked across the table at John with his wife, expecting their first child, and sharing that joy with his family. It all felt so perfect, and it was yet another reminder of how much he wanted all this, too.

Ted snuck a glance towards Tracy, who looked over at him with a smile. He reached for her hand clandestinely under the table, holding it gently but tightly as he smiled at her lovingly.

After their meal, the three McConnell kids got up and began clearing the plates from the table. Ted stood up and offered to help, but Mary kindly told him to sit back down.

"Charles and I cook, and they clean," she explained. "It's tradition."

So as Tracy, John and Matthew continued to bring the plates into the kitchen, Charles, Mary, Beth and Ted migrated over to the living room. Beth stretched out on the couch, adjusting a pillow under her neck and rubbed her pregnant belly contently. Ted sat down onto the single chair, happy that it reclined. He leaned back, groaning slightly at his overly full stomach, and then looked over at the love seat, where Tracy's parents had kicked off their slippers and stretched their legs out on the coffee table.

Charles turned on the TV, stumbling upon an episode of _Friends_, and then put his arm around his wife's shoulders, leaning in to whisper something in her ear. Mary laughed and playfully smacked her husband on the knee. Ted smiled at the sight of the older couple, still very much in love after over 35 years of marriage.

The four of them sat in the living room, and Ted could hear sounds coming from the kitchen: the running of the water in the sink, the clattering of pots and dishes, and the laughter coming from the three siblings. He smiled as he could hear Tracy's older brothers taunt her affectionately, hearing his own name pop up a couple of times, but he couldn't make out the words of their conversation. He did hear Tracy laughing, and then say, "Shut up! I'm _so_ telling mom!" Ted chuckled, imagining that this was what it must've been like when they all lived under the same roof.

45 minutes later, they came out of the kitchen and joined the rest of them in the living room. John lifted his wife's legs from the couch, sat down, and placed them onto his lap, rubbing his wife's feet affectionately, gazing into her eyes lovingly. Matthew collapsed onto the floor with a happy groan, shutting his eyes.

Tracy walked towards Ted in the chair, and he started to get up to give her his seat. She shook her head, gave him a reassuring look, and gently pushed him back down into the chair. Ted cast a nervous glance towards her parents as she crawled onto his lap and squeezed into the chair with him. But nobody batted an eyelash as she curled up against him. Except for her mother, he noticed, as she gazed at Tracy bittersweetly, looking as if she wanted to cry tears of joy.

Watching everyone else cuddled up with their significant other, Ted realized that decorum was not necessary here, and that affection was highly encouraged. So Ted adjusted his body to give Tracy some extra room (and to keep her from sitting on his sensitive stomach), and he let her wrap herself around him, legs tangled together, and she gave him a tender kiss on the lips.

"How're you feeling?" she asked him softly.

"Stuffed," Ted whispered, leaning his head closer to hers. "But happy. Your family's quite something."

Tracy chuckled. "They really like you," she told him.

"The feeling's mutual," he assured her.

She smiled and happily tucked her head under Ted's chin, everyone quiet as every Thanksgiving episode of _Friends_ continued to play on the TV.

Ted's spend most of the time gazing at Tracy instead of the flat screen, watching Tracy as she uttered lines from each episode. "It tastes like feet!" she whispered along with Ross, and then laughed heartily. Ted gave her an amused look.

She smiled sheepishly up at him. "When you're single for seven years, you tend to spend a lot of time on the couch watching television," she explained.

He smiled back at her and wrapped his arms tighter around her, never wanting to let go. To him, this moment was just pure bliss.

They all continued to watch television for a couple more hours, many just shutting their eyes and falling into their respective food comas, the occasional moan and burp and apology popping up from someone's lips. By 11, they all agreed that it was time to go to bed, the younger set standing up and stretching, whereas Charles and Mary decided to stay up a bit longer.

"Goodnight ma. Goodnight dad," said Tracy, giving them each a peck on the top of their heads.

"Good night, lovelies," said Mary to them all, kissing her sons goodnight, as well. "Sleep tight."

John and Beth headed down towards the basement, whereas Ted, Tracy and Matthew headed upstairs, their tired legs carrying them up one step at a time.

"G'night, you two," said Matthew with a yawn. "See you in the morning."

He disappeared in one of the bedrooms, shutting the door behind him, and they headed to Tracy's room.

"Holy crap, I am so stuffed," Ted groaned upon entering the dark room, toeing off his socks, unbuttoning his pants and kicking them off, then peeling off his sweater before falling face-first onto the bed in nothing but his boxers and t-shirt. "Why did I eat so much?"

Tracy laughed sympathetically as she turned on the lights and closed the door behind them. "I told you not to overdo it," she chided, walking over to her overnight bag for her pajamas.

"But it would've been rude to not eat a little bit of everything," Ted explained, rolling over on his back, as Tracy began changing out of her clothes. "Your mom's half-Italian; isn't leaving food on one's plate a form of rudeness in her culture?"

"I _think_ the issue you're having right now is due to the three slices of pumpkin pie you wolfed down," she said, now dressed for bed, and grabbing a book from her bag. She turned on the bedside lamp and walked over to the door to turn off the lights.

"But I love your pumpkin pie," Ted mumbled as she walked back to the bed and turned down the comforter, encouraging him to join her underneath. "Two slices wasn't enough." He moaned as he crawled underneath the duvet, sighing happily as he leaned against Tracy's shoulder.

She laughed softly as she leaned over to kiss his forehead. Ted smiled despite the stomach ache—her touch made him feel better. He peered over at her book; she was nearly done with Thomas Hardy's _Far from the Madding Crowd_. Tracy had made progress on her pile of books over the summer, and had now made it to the Victorian literature portion of her must-read list.

It was one of his favourite books (although he would never admit it to any of his friends) and he loved watching Tracy soak up the story these past few weeks. She was nearly done now, with only a couple of pages left, nearing his favourite part, the happy ending where Gabriel and Bathsheba finally get married.

"Read to me?" Ted asked. "You're about to get to the best part."

"Sure," she whispered, sitting a bit straighter against the headboard, motioning for Ted to lay his head on her lap. He obliged, lowering himself onto her thighs and curling his body slightly. With her free hand, she reached down for his stomach, lifting the hem of his t-shirt and lowering the waistband of his boxers slightly, and gently began rubbing his belly, her palm moving in a circular motion.

"Does that help?" she asked him softly.

"Mm-hmm," was all Ted could utter, his eyes closed, her rhythmic hand motions soothing his aching belly.

"Okay," she said, satisfied, not stopping her ministrations as she deftly opened the book with the other hand, finding her bookmarked page. She began to read:

"It was a damp disagreeable morning. Nevertheless, at twenty minutes to ten o'clock, Oak came out of his house, and went up the hill side, with that sort of stride a man puts out when walking in search of a bride, and knocked Bathsheba's door. Ten minutes later a large and a smaller umbrella might have been seen moving from the same door, and through the mist along the road to the church. The distance was not more than a quarter of a mile, and these two sensible persons deemed it unnecessary to drive. An observer must have been very close indeed to discover that the forms under the umbrellas were those of Oak and Bathsheba, arm-in-arm for the first time in their lives, Oak in a greatcoat extending to his knees, and Bathsheba in a cloak that reached her clogs. Yet, though so plainly dressed there was a certain rejuvenated appearance about her. As though a rose should shut and be a bud again."

Tracy continued to read, Ted occasionally piping up to utter a few of his favourite lines he knew by heart along with her. But she was done with the book all too quickly, setting it down on the nightstand next to her. They lay there quietly for a while, Tracy still working on soothing Ted's stomach.

"So what'd you think?" he asked, looking up at her.

She looked down at him, her free hand now in his hair, stroking his head. "The book? It was beautiful. I mean, she married her best friend after all, it was the perfect ending."

"You know," Ted began hesitantly. "You're my best friend. I've never told you that, but... you just are. Just don't tell Marshall or Barney."

"_Baaaabe_," she said, touched, leaning down to give him a kiss. "You're mine, too."

Ted smiled. "Also, and I know we've only been together six months, but we really haven't talked much about marriage... and stuff."

Tracy's eyes widened at the m-word, but she pondered it over a bit. "Not since you brought up settling down on our first date, no we have not."

"Second date," Ted corrected her with a smile. "And we didn't really talk about it much. Not really, anyway."

"Well, I think the fact that I didn't run screaming for the hills when you first mentioned it counts as a good sign, right?" she teased.

"I'm being serious, Trace," he said softly.

"Sorry, babe," she said, her tone turning sober. "In all honesty, I still stand by my answer. You could've easily scared me off when you brought it up, but... you didn't. I stuck around because the idea of it didn't sound all that scary."

Ted let out a sigh of relief. "So... you would consider maybe someday eventually settling down in the future? With me, I mean," he specified.

"Oh, with _you_..." she said, grinning. "Well, that kind of changes everything."

"What have I told you about making jokes while I'm in a vulnerable state?"

Tracy rolled her eyes. "Yes with you, you dork!" she said, tugging at his hair gently. "Happy?"

Ted grinned. "Very," he said. Ted knew that they were on the same page, but he was happy to get confirmation that they both wanted the same things and were heading in the same general direction. Excited, Ted felt like getting her feedback on kids, too, but he figured that could be a discussion for another time.

For the time being, he was perfectly content, his head on her lap and a warm feeling in his heart. What more could he ask for?

"You ready for bed?" she asked him softly, yawning. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," he said, admittedly tired, but not really wanting to move from his current position. He pressed his lips to the V of her sweatpants a few times, making her moan approvingly, before pushing himself up and off her.

Tracy reached out to turn off the lamp, and they both lay their heads down, turning to face each other. They laughed in the dark, squeezing together in the single bed, legs entwined, their noses touching. Tracy leaned in to kiss his nose. "Love you, Ted," she said sweetly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he told her, lifting the comforter up to their chins, and draping his arm over body. "I love you, too."


End file.
